1st US Cavalry Division helps 9-year-old boy with muscular dystrophy fulfill dream of becoming a sol - Polidicks

[QUOTE=Kopimi;39563022]Not even remotely close to anything I was saying.[/QUOTE] The point is you shouldn't shit on the little guys' hopes and dreams. It's not like he wants to grow up to be a mass murderer.

[QUOTE=-nesto-;39563001]Soldiers don't start wars. World peace is an impossible feat, taking soldiers out of the equation wouldn't do shit[/QUOTE] No, but soldiers fight wars you muppet.

[QUOTE=EpikEnvy2.0;39563045]The point is you shouldn't shit on the little guys' hopes and dreams. It's not like he wants to grow up to be a mass murderer.[/QUOTE] I outright said I'm happy for the kid, I'm complaining about the culture of militarism that gave him that dream.

[QUOTE=EpikEnvy2.0;39563045] It's not like he wants to grow up to be a mass murderer.[/QUOTE] It kind of is though. Just because we have a culture that promotes them to being on pedestals of heroism, and just because they also do a lot of good on the side, doesn't mean the job isn't by definition "be a mass murderer"

[QUOTE=BrainDeath;39562471]whole point of a US soldier is to go in to other countries with far bigger guns than any of the natives and shoot people a police officer protects people and a fireman saves them, a soldier shoots them.[/QUOTE] I'm anti war but... wow, piss off please. You make anti-war people look bad.

[QUOTE=Kopimi;39562999]I think cultural glorification of warfare and conducting warfare is unhealthy and even more so when children are audience to that culture of war and blind patriotism as they grow up. Soldiers do good but to pretend the job of the military isn't largely, primarily to conduct warfare and military conflict is ridiculous. If you're an adult and you feel you want to "serve your country" go ahead, but yes I do find it unsettling that its normal for children to grow up glorifying and idolizing people who are, for better or worse, hired guns for the US military. Whether or not you believe in the military and find service honorable, I feel like it shouldn't be controversial to be unnerved by children with no understanding of how brutal and dehumanizing war can be, dreaming of growing up to be soldiers because of American culture's one sided glorification of war.[/QUOTE] I understand what you're getting at but how do you suggest changing this? Ofc children won't know about the bad side of any job that they're interested in.

[QUOTE=Marbalo;39563094]well it certainty won't when there's people like you around[/QUOTE] It won't happen because it's reality. Hatred grows from fucking everywhere. Isn't like I wouldn't want to see it happen

[QUOTE=Marbalo;39562822]Please, who the fuck would invade the US. This isn't 1780 anymore. The argument that a country needs a military to defend itself is outdated and bogus, not to mention blatant propagandist nonsense. The less soldiers there are in the world, the closer we'd be to world peace.[/QUOTE] Yeah because abolishing whole armies is going to stop aggression and ethnic violence. Anybody and anyone can pull an instance in history in where a standing army would have helped the world and anybody and anyone can pull an equal amount of historical events in where having an army would have destroyed the world. Trying to tell people not to fight is like trying to command water not to be wet.

[QUOTE=Marbalo;39563200]change comes from the younger generations, you know them being the future of mankind and all[/QUOTE] and what can younger people do? the culture of venerating old warriors is sort of ingrained in the american mentality, blablabla.

[QUOTE=Marbalo;39562822]Please, who the fuck would invade the US. This isn't 1780 anymore. The argument that a country needs a military to defend itself is outdated and bogus, not to mention blatant propagandist nonsense. The less soldiers there are in the world, the closer we'd be to world peace.[/QUOTE] What do you wanna bet that without a standing army we'd have been invaded already? Oh and then there was that whole back to back world war business going on that our "useless standing army" helped quite a bit with. Then there are things like US aircraft carriers being used for massive relief efforts across the world and other useless things. Nah you're right the world would be better off after all.

[QUOTE=Marbalo;39563094]well it certainty won't when there's people like you around[/QUOTE] I hope you realise world peace is a pile of optimistic bull. Hatred and war is something hardwired into the human mind. Even if you remove religion, people will still want to kill each other over differences in belief, culture, physical appearance, and speech. And even then, people will war over territory and resources. Singular world culture and reeducation won't work, there is always someone who will object. So unless we build some sort of totalarian state filled with lobotomites, we'll just have to realise that the world is a pile of shit. [editline]12th February 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=BrainDeath;39562471]whole point of a US soldier is to go in to other countries with far bigger guns than any of the natives and shoot people a police officer protects people and a fireman saves them, a soldier shoots them.[/QUOTE] This is the absolute dumbest thing I've ever read.

-snip- wow thanks network

[QUOTE=Marbalo;39562822]Please, who the fuck would invade the US. This isn't 1780 anymore. [B]The argument that a country needs a military to defend itself is outdated and bogus, not to mention blatant propagandist nonsense. [/B] The less soldiers there are in the world, the closer we'd be to world peace.[/QUOTE] Yeah that worked out real well for tibet didn't it. Dont be so fucking stupid.

Armies and their exceptional infrastructure have the power to also evade wars being broken out theoretically. I am strictly against war, military in general but it's just rational to have one THERE for defence.

Wow, the thread got derailed fast. The kid got to live his dream of being a soldier and only two posts in Kopimi feels that the kid is wrong for idolizing a profession. Do you go around Christmas time telling kids that Santa doesn't exist?

[QUOTE=Marbalo;39562822]Please, who the fuck would invade the US. This isn't 1780 anymore. The argument that a country needs a military to defend itself is outdated and bogus, not to mention blatant propagandist nonsense. The less soldiers there are in the world, the closer we'd be to world peace.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Kopimi;39563067]I outright said I'm happy for the kid, I'm complaining about the culture of militarism that gave him that dream.[/QUOTE] gg for trying to change this good deed by the 1st cav into an argument for how militarism is ruining the world. It's like you're trying to start shit so you can spend the next 10 pages debating with them.

[QUOTE=Marbalo;39563319]let me guess, war is 'human nature' no, but it's a step in the right direction. what kind of retarded logic is that? we shouldn't have abolished slavery because africans were enslaving their own anyhow so it wouldn't have made a difference? i'm astonished at the amount of short-sighted lazy cynics that always go on how 'no wars would be great but it's impossible!!" how the fuck is it impossible. if you truly wanted it, then it wouldn't even be an issue. the only difference is the fact that it actually takes a spec of effort to achieve something of this sort. we have no 'war' gene. we have no 'violence' gene. if we manage to overcome primal instincts on a daily-basis we can sure as hell overcome this retarded imaginary war instinct you people keep blathering on about.[/QUOTE] And your pacifistic ideals has expectations that go beyond the heights of Olympus Mons.

[QUOTE=Marbalo;39563319]let me guess, war is 'human nature' no, but it's a step in the right direction. what kind of retarded logic is that? we shouldn't have abolished slavery because africans were enslaving their own anyhow so it wouldn't have made a difference? i'm astonished at the amount of short-sighted lazy cynics that always go on how 'no wars would be great but it's impossible!!" how the fuck is it impossible. if you truly wanted it, then it wouldn't even be an issue. the only difference is the fact that it actually takes a spec of effort to achieve something of this sort. we have no 'war' gene. we have no 'violence' gene. if we manage to overcome primal instincts on a daily-basis we can sure as hell overcome this retarded imaginary war instinct you people keep blathering on about.[/QUOTE] Unless you can abolish all hatred and bigotry in the world, there will always be a threat. You can't honestly think a world with 7 billion people and growing will always have people getting along. World peace would be a temporary thing if it is achieved, because selfishness and hatred is part of nature, even if full out war isn't.

[QUOTE=Marbalo;39563319]let me guess, war is 'human nature' no, but it's a step in the right direction. what kind of retarded logic is that? we shouldn't have abolished slavery because africans were enslaving their own anyhow so it wouldn't have made a difference? i'm astonished at the amount of short-sighted lazy cynics that always go on how 'no wars would be great but it's impossible!!" how the fuck is it impossible. if you truly wanted it, then it wouldn't even be an issue. the only difference is the fact that it actually takes a spec of effort to achieve something of this sort. we have no 'war' gene. we have no 'violence' gene. if we manage to overcome primal instincts on a daily-basis we can sure as hell overcome this retarded imaginary war instinct you people keep blathering on about.[/QUOTE] Wow, what's your plan to solve world hunger? Tell everyone that if there was infinite food, nobody would starve?

[QUOTE=BrainDeath;39562471]whole point of a US soldier is to go in to other countries with far bigger guns than any of the natives and shoot people a police officer protects people and a fireman saves them, a soldier shoots them.[/QUOTE] That's warrior you're talking about, not a soldier. Warriors conquer, they prey on the weak and kick when someone's down. Soldiers defend people, mostly from these warriors.

[QUOTE=Marbalo;39563615]yeah silly me for trying to speak out against a thing i completely despise and know full well can be avoided just like all the other bad things humanity has done repeatedly for centuries before realizing that what they are doing is fucking wrong what a card i am! there is no future in cynicism. there is no progress in hatred. if war is as natural as you claim it to be, then we should try our best to overcome it. why? because it's detrimental to humanity as a whole.[/QUOTE] Do you honestly thing that if we abolished our military... tomorrow, that we'd last a [I]week[/I] before SOMEONE tries to attack us?

[QUOTE=Nitro836;39563670]That's warrior you're talking about, not a soldier. Warriors conquer, they prey on the weak and kick when someone's down. Soldiers defend people, mostly from these warriors.[/QUOTE] uh no. people use the terms interchangeably

[QUOTE=Marbalo;39563615]yeah silly me for trying to speak out against a thing i completely despise and know full well can be avoided just like all the other bad things humanity has done repeatedly for centuries before realizing that what they are doing is fucking wrong what a card i am! there is no future in cynicism. there is no progress in hatred. if war is as natural as you claim it to be, then we should try our best to overcome it. why? because it's detrimental to humanity as a whole.[/QUOTE] What are your views on the recent French intervention in Mali? Was France in the wrong too? Yes, the military actions undertaken there could have been avoided, but they were being performed for the benefit of the people of Mali who greatly disagreed with what the Islamic militants were doing in the northern parts of the country. I'm sorry, but personally I think what you put forward is overly optimistic at best, throughout the course of human history people have banded together to oppress other groups of people. Governments, and the armies that serve them, exist to provide stability and without them the world would be a much more chaotic place. On-Topic: It's great for the kid, my day always gets a bit better when I read stories like this one. Yes, some people are right in saying that this kid is idealizing what the military is like, but he is just a kid. When I was young I wanted to be in the military, then as I grew older I realized that along with all the good comes just as much bad. Life is just a game of risk versus rewards anyway.

[QUOTE=Amez;39563447]gg for trying to change this good deed by the 1st cav into an argument for how militarism is ruining the world. It's like you're trying to start shit so you can spend the next 10 pages debating with them.[/QUOTE] It is, though. Nationalism and militarism is awful. Glorifying war and soldiers is a terrible thing to do.

[QUOTE=Nitro836;39563670]That's warrior you're talking about, not a soldier. Warriors conquer, they prey on the weak and kick when someone's down. Soldiers defend people, mostly from these warriors.[/QUOTE] I would like to point out how you don't serve your own ideologies but more the likes of an organisations and swear being loyal to the tasks which you sign up to do. That can be anything more than defending, unfortunately. I mean, war also begins because there are 'good little soldiers' who pledge these papers and the end result is getting a bunch of robots together, fully well knowing it's not like the opposition raped your girlfriend or anything, your just turning peoples sons and daughters into ophans just because some guy told you to. Your defending because some guy told you to.

[QUOTE=Kopimi;39563067]I outright said I'm happy for the kid, I'm complaining about the culture of militarism that gave him that dream.[/QUOTE] You are very delusional if you think this is a USA thing or that is has anything to do with culture. I am in Portugal and since I was a kid I've looked up to soldiers, and not from the TV or any other silly thing you may come up with. As a kid, my dad used to tell me stories of when he was in the military. His parachuting experiences, what he went through on recruit, really all kinds of things. He never shot anyone and that certainly didn't make his military experience any less complete. As a kid, while I did know that the military shot people, obviously, for me that wasn't the essence of it. It was more the modus operandi, and it still is. The reason most kids like soldiers and the military or whatever is less because "lol shooting people" and more because they find camo, jets, helis, tanks, ships, etc. cool. Which is normal for kids. And not just kids either.

when I was a kid I looked up to the military (well, NASA too) because they had the most scientifically advanced shit in many areas... still sort of do blame it on large military budgets?

[QUOTE=trotskygrad;39563693]uh no. people use the terms interchangeably[/QUOTE] One is a blood hound, other isn't. Post I repiled to fails to see this.

[QUOTE=*Freezorg*;39564019]You are very delusional if you think this is a USA thing or that is has anything to do with culture. I am in Portugal and since I was a kid I've looked up to soldiers, and not from the TV or any other silly thing you may come up with. As a kid, my dad used to tell me stories of when he was in the military. His parachuting experiences, what he went through on recruit, really all kinds of things. He never shot anyone and that certainly didn't make his military experience any less complete. As a kid, while I did know that the military shot people, obviously, for me that wasn't the essence of it. It was more the modus operandi, and it still is. The reason most kids like soldiers and the military or whatever is less because "lol shooting people" and more because they find camo, jets, helis, tanks, ships, etc. cool. Which is normal for kids. And not just kids either.[/QUOTE] My Dad always told me stories about his Navy days, how he saw action in the Falklands, how it went after the wars. And military service runs in my family. Hell, I'm named after a military unit. Every man on my dad's side of the family has served in the Army at some point or the other, I was the first one to serve in the US Army.

[QUOTE=Nitro836;39564089]One is a blood hound, other isn't. Post I repiled to fails to see this.[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org[/url] what were you saying?